1. Sometimes there's a lot of screaming and yelling going on here. Derek screams when he's happy and screams when he's mad, so I always feel bad for our neighbors, who probably think we've got issues. One day, our windows were open and I could hear our neighbor pick fruit from his tree. Derek happened to be in a good mood and started giggling, so I encouraged it more by doing some silly thing to keep the happiness going. I wanted Bob to hear that yes, my children are happy at times. I then raised it up a notch by tickling him and then making my own laugh real loud on purpose. But then it got a weird because my laugh became a little too forced and I was afraid that Bob probably knew that I was kind of fake-laughing and that he thought I was a psycho-mom. So I was kind of embarrassed to see him again, but he told me recently that he really doesn't hear a peep from us. Whew!
2. Derek's vocabulary is expanding but not as much as he would like. When the rest of us are talking about something and he wants to join in, he'll just say "applesauce" because it's the biggest word he knows and thinks he's part of the conversation. When he doesn't know what a word is, he'll substitute it with "sauce". He says, "I want this sauce" about 15 times a day. When he wants to make a word longer, he'll add "sauce" to it, which cracks up his brother. Marcus' favorites are "car-sauce" or "block-sauce".
3. Marcus and Derek's relationship is complicated. During their trip to Maryland, he confided in Mike that he doesn't really like Derek. A few weeks ago, I asked him about this and he clarified that he loves Derek, but sometimes doesn't like him, like when he's screaming and crying. (I totally get it, son.) Although they bicker and fight, I do see glimpses of genuine love, like when they're chasing each other around the house while belly laughing, or when they're wrestling on the bed, or when Derek looks to him for consolation when he's in trouble.
One day, during Derek's 5 o' clock meltdown, he was crying hysterically waiting for dinner at the table. After a couple minutes I noticed that Marcus was real quiet and when I looked at him, he was making a funny face and probably was doing it for a while. Sweet brother was trying to console him by making him laugh.
On a different day, Derek woke up from a nap crying and in a terrible mood. Immediately, Marcus went over to the piano to play him the Lullaby Song. Funny faces and music must be his love language.
4. Audrey asked me recently, "Mom, is there still manna around?" When I said there wasn't, she responded with a whimpering, "Aaaawwwww!! I wanted to taste some!!" Go figure...God's children complain when he gives them manna and some complain when He doesn't.
